| Clinton Woods gets some inside knowledge |
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Clinton Woods, the International Boxing Federation light-heavyweight champion, yesterday struck a psychological blow ahead of his world-title defence in Florida this weekend against Antonio Tarver, by revealing that he has been preparing with the American's former mentor Lou Harris. Woods has spent a week under trainer Harris at the Frontline gym in Orlando, gaining insights into Tarver's weaknesses ahead of Saturday's bout in Tampa. Harris is bitter that Tarver deserted him years ago. "I tried to treat Antonio like a son, but after everything I did for him he just walked away. You know what it's like when a fighter comes out of the ghetto and gets a few nickels to rub together. If you were brought up the right way you would never dream of doing something like he did. I can tell you that all my fighters who were here when Antonio was around, they are praying that he gets beaten on Saturday night."... Harris has given clear advice to Woods. "Antonio's only got four punches and if Clinton figures that out he'll be OK," he said. "He needs to be aggressive and get right in Tarver's face. This sort of thing is the nature of the business. When Clinton's people called and asked to come to my gym, I said it was no problem. Whatever information Clinton needs, I don't mind giving him that."Woods added: "It's funny that we ended up at Tarver's first amateur gym but it's perfect and I've been getting as much information as I can out of coach Harris."
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